The House Appropriations Committee provides funding to support transportation maintenance, operations and construction projects across all major modes – roads, port, public transit, and the port.
All of these funds are the responsibility of the Secretary of Transportation, and the vast majority are appropriated via funding formulas outlined in the Code of Virginia in Title 33.2, Chapter 15.
Budget Overview
The ongoing operations of Virginia’s transportation agencies are supported with nongeneral fund resources, largely coming from the Commonwealth Transportation Fund, which holds dedicated transportation resources from the federal government, state taxes on fuel and motor vehicles, transportation bond revenues, vehicle registration fees, and the portion of the general sales tax dedicated by the Code to transportation.
In FY 2026, $8.4 billion or 76% of resources appropriated for transportation projects comes from the Commonwealth Transportation Fund. Approximately $5.2 billion of the $8.4 billion in Commonwealth Transportation Fund resources was generated from transportation-based taxes on motor vehicle sales and gas sales as well as 0.9% of the state’s sales tax on goods. The remainder of $3.2 billion comes from other sources including federal grants, local shares and toll revenues.
The chart below describes the resources for the Commonwealth Transportation Fund from the previous fiscal year, FY 2025.
Commonwealth Transportation Fund Resources for FY 2025
The Commonwealth Transportation Board allocates these revenues to support maintenance, construction and operations of Virginia’s transportation system which includes highways, rail, the port, air, and public transit. The Commonwealth Transportation Board is a 17-member policy board appointed by the Governor.
Chapter 1230, 2020 Acts of Assembly changed the allocation of Commonwealth Transportation Fund dollars prior to their distribution between the Transportation Trust Fund and Highway Maintenance and Operating Fund. Prior to any distribution, about $160 million goes to the following programs: the Route 58 Corridor Development Fund; the Northern Virginia Transportation District Fund; and the Special Structure Fund. After these mandatory distributions, the remaining funds are split between the Transportation Trust Fund (49%) and Highway Maintenance and Operating Fund (51%). Transportation Trust Fund resources are further distributed for construction programs (53%); the Commonwealth Mass Transit Fund (23%); the Commonwealth Rail Fund (7.5%); Commonwealth Port Fund (2.5%); Commonwealth Aviation Fund (1.5%); Commonwealth Space Flight Fund (1%); the Priority Transportation Fund (10.5%); the Department of Motor Vehicles (1%).
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